Special Section
THE PDRA TOP 3 LIST IS AN EVER-CHANGING LIST OF THE BIGGEST NEWSMAKERS AND POWER PLAY- ERS IN THE PDRA ’ S PROFESSIONAL CLASSES . THIS MONTH ’ S EDITION , REPRESENTING PERFORMANC- ES FROM THE SEASON-OPENING EAST COAST NA- TIONALS PRESENTED BY FUELTECH , APRIL 8-10 AT GALOT MOTORSPORTS PARK , DOES NOT REFLECT THE CURRENT POINTS STANDINGS , THOUGH MOST OF THE DRIVERS WHO APPEAR ON THIS LIST CAN ALSO BE FOUND NEAR THE TOP OF THE POINTS STANDINGS IN THEIR RESPECTIVE CLASSES .
PHOTOGRAPHS BY TARA BOWKER
PRO NITROUS |
PRO BOOST |
EXTREME PRO STOCK |
PRO OUTLAW 632 |
PRO NITROUS MOTORCYCLE |
JIM HALSEY TOMMY FRANKLIN RON MUENKS |
JOHNNY CAMP KEVIN RIVENBARK TODD TUTTEROW |
CHRIS POWERS JR CARR STEVEN BOONE |
JIMMY PELCARKSY WES DISTEFANO DARYL STEWART |
TRAVIS DAVIS CHRIS GARNER-JONES BRAD MCCOY |
Driving his Brandon Switzertuned , Fulton-powered ’ 68 Camaro , defending Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous world champion Jim Halsey qualified No . 1 with a 3.65 and never strayed from the 3.60s in eliminations . After running low E . T . of the event ( 3.631 ) in the semis , Halsey used to a 3.649 at 206.26 to beat fellow two-time champion Tommy Franklin in the final . Franklin almost won it on a holeshot , running a 3.673 in his Musi-powered “ Jungle Rat ” ’ 69 Camaro for a . 002 margin of victory . Ron Muenks , who qualified No . 2 in the Jeff Pierce-tuned , Reher-Morrison-powered “ Purple Gorilla ” ’ 68 Camaro , was on track for a finalround appearance until he slowed to a 3.772 next to Franklin ’ s 3.681 in the semis .
Former Pro Nitrous racer Johnny Camp scored his second event win in Penske / PRS Pro Boost presented by WS Construction , combining his best reaction time of the day (. 015 ) with a 3.668 at 203.61 in his Brandon Stroudtuned , ProCharger-boosted “ Hells Bells ” ’ 69 Camaro to defeat Kevin Rivenbark ’ s 3.644 in the final round . Camp was quicker than Rivenbark in prior rounds , but Rivenbark ’ s Steve Pettytuned GALOT Motorsports ’ 69 Camaro laid down its best pass of the weekend in the runner-up effort . Todd “ King Tut ” Tutterow , making his PDRA return as a teammate to Kurt Steding , piloted his screw-blown P2 Contracting ’ 20 Camaro to a 3.662 to qualify atop the stacked 16-car field .
Following the January passing of legendary Mountain Motor Pro Stock engine builder Sonny Leonard , Chris Powers ensured Leonard was well-represented in Liberty ’ s Gears Extreme Pro Stock presented by AED Competition . Powers drove his Sonny ’ s- powered ’ 14 Camaro to the quickest winning E . T . s of the first two rounds . When Steven Boone wasn ’ t able to return for the final after hurting an engine , Powers took the tree and idled down the track while the announcer described Leonard ’ s impact on the industry . JR Carr had the quickest car of the weekend , qualifying No . 1 and running a 4.06 in his Frank Gugliotta-tuned ’ 20 Camaro to lose on a holeshot in the first round . Boone was consistent , recording a 4.107 and a 4.115 in his Allen-powered ’ 07 Cobalt .
What started with possibly the largest $ hameless Racing Pro Outlaw 632 field in PDRA history ended in the quickest side-by-side pass in class history . Jimmy Pelcarsky , who qualified No . 1 with a 4.134 in his Hutter-powered small-block $ hameless Racing ’ 15 Camaro , unleashed a 4.136 at 170.15 in the final round to beat Wes Distefano ’ s 4.151 . Distefano , the defending world champion , qualified No . 3 in his Musi-powered $ hameless Racing ’ 68 Camaro . Daryl Stewart was the only other driver running in the 4.10s in his Chassis Engineering ’ 12 Camaro , stringing together a pair of 4.18s in the first two rounds and a 4.199 to trail Distefano in the semis .
Rather than rest on the success of back-to-back Drag 965 Pro Nitrous Motorcycle world championships , Travis Davis stepped up his game over the offseason . He upgraded the ECU technology on his Timblin Chassis ’ 18 Hayabusa , which resulted in a No . 1 qualifying effort , 3.99- second passes in the first and final rounds , and a blistering , career-best 3.958 to beat Brad McCoy in the semifinals . Davis defeated Chris Garner- Jones ’ 4.078 in the final , a battle between the top two qualifiers and the top two in 2020 points . McCoy had the third-quickest Hayabusa all weekend , starting with a 4.075 in E1 before slowing to a 5-second pass next to Davis in the semis .
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